A “Winning and Grinning” Jeremy Lin. Serendipity, Synchronicity, Irony and Karma have for once aligned with the Knicks, their BIg Three and the young man who would resurrect them.

Is it just me or doesn’t the emergence of Jeremy Lin, signal a splendid conjunction of irony, serendipity, synchronicity and Karma? All curious elements that seemingly always play out adversely against the Knicks.

Think about it for a moment, hasn’t serendipity often eluded the Knicks. You can count a plethora of unfortunate of events that have derailed fateful unions and undermined Gotham’s championship dreams. Bernard King injuries killed what could have been a splendid union with Patrick Ewing. The playoff incident with the Miami Heat that cost the Knicks what was likely those 90s team’s best shot at a championship. We can go on and on, heck the beginning of this century has seemingly been about missteps and miscues in the draft and trade routes. How many times has a Knicks’ alumnus found himself part of a meaningful playoff run after being cast out from Gotham’s wayward ship as just more undesirable flotsam. Ariza, Nate, Z-Bo, Crawford anyone?

Sure the tide has begun to turn on the Knicks. But even the turning of that tide has been frustrated, often falling short of the desired home run hit management and fans dream of. Heavy cost have been exacted by rival front offices in Houston and Denver, and the Knicks have often struck out on Building block players as front offices in Minnesota and Oakland have stolen the Knicks thunder in the draft. Another “Superstar” did not accompany Amar’e Stoudemire during the summer of 2010 and the Knicks while taking a step forward that season surely were far from the juggernaut needed to contend with the “Superteams” and Powerhouses in Miami and Chicago. While the luring of Carmelo Anthonyr to Gotham resulted in the exodus of a ransom of complimentary talent breaking out and contributing to winning situations in Denver and Portland.

But somehow it all comes back around. Doesn’t it?

The very same organizations in Houston and Golden State that had shrewdly exacted ransoms and out maneuvered New York fell victims to the same myopia that bigger names, statures and price tags are always better. Ostentatious grabs for size and power in the post resulted in Jeremy Lin slipping from the Rockets and Warriors grasp. Ironically Gotham’s latest point guard prodigy’s potential slipped under the radars of teams with talented point guard heavy rosters who prioritized cap space in order to bid on this season’s crop of free agent centers, with Lin becoming the odd man out.

The Knicks, who had seen the talent, depth and speed of their point guard roster diminish over a series of bold maneuvers to build a front line empire, took an innocuous flyer on a young man who had too often been cast out as another team’s jetsam. As the team’s offense stuttered in the hopes of a resurrection to be led by a former All Star in Baron Davis, Lin continued to work at his craft in practice and in scrimmages. As the Baron Davis led resurrection continued to stall and the Knicks offense devolved, Lin continued to make his case for playing time in the limited minutes afforded him prior to his fateful coming out party. When the Knicks awoke from a debacle on the road against the Boston Celtics, it was Lin’s absence in the 2nd half despite a promising showing in the first that demanded that the team finally consider handing Lin more consistent minutes at the point guard position.

Bam! Voila! Can you believe it? Jeremy Lin exited unwanted from the dark cloud of crowded backcourt talented teams into the eye of the perfect storm on a team looking for an answer at the point guard position. Lin responded of course by averaging 22 points, 8 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. More importantly Lin’s production came against some of the bigger front courts in the league and many of the better guards and point guards in the league — Deron Williams, Devin Harris, John Wall, Kobe Bryant and Ricky Rubio. Serendipity and synchronicity in the blink of a New York Minute as a series of unrelated events culminated in the acquisition and timely insertion of Jeremy Lin into the Knicks lineup!

“suffering produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.”

Lin’s perseverance through tribulations brought the Tiawanese/Chinese American phenom through a previously traveled road to Basketball’s Mecca when an opportunity was born of desperation. That road had been trekked by Knicks like John Starks and Anthony Mason decades ago. A road that has been reestablished by the front office’s recent track record of acquiring value in the often overlooked nooks and crannies of the late rounds of the draft and free agent wire. With the latest chapter in that story very much being the story of the Knicks newfound treasure in Jeremy Lin.